NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board met on Tuesday 20 August 2019
All the Board papers are available on their website. These notes were prepared by their communications staff.
Second term for Chair
Chairman, Professor John Brown CBE, has accepted the invitation of the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport, Jeanne Freeman, to serve a second term as Chairman of the Board of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. His term will run until November 2023.
Implementing smoke free prisons
Barlinnie Prison in Glasgow.
All prisons in Scotland successfully went smoke-free on 30 November 2018. Dr Linda de Caestecker, Director of Public Health, gave a presentation to the Board on the steps taken by NHSGGC, in conjunction with the Scottish Prisons Service (SPS), to implement the national policy.
The estimated prevalence of smoking amongst the prison population in Scotland is 68%, nearly four times higher than in the general population.
In preparation for going smoke-free, e-cigarettes were introduced in Scottish prisons in September 2018 as a viable alternative to smoking. SPS also provided additional activities to those in custody to distract from the effects of stopping smoking.
Capacity within the NHSGGC stop smoking service – Quit Your Way Prison – was increased in anticipation of more demand for help with stopping smoking. At the time of the smoke-free implementation, demand for these services was high with the number of groups increasing from seven to 18 per week and numbers attending groups increasing from 75 to 200 per week.
Whilst demand for these services has since decreased at HMP Greenock, it has remained high at both HMP Barlinnie and HMP Loss Moss; demand at Barlinnie is such that there is a waiting list currently for the service.
Eight months on, the implementation of the national policy has been deemed a success. It was implemented with no disturbances and has also provided impetus into the wider health improvement agenda within prisons, helping to address related health issues, improve overall health and reduce inequalities.
Dr Linda de Caestecker said: “This was one of the best examples of partnership working in public health with NHSGGC, Scottish Government and the Scottish Prison Service working well together with very effective communication between three agencies.
“Our preparation and planning was also based on very good research from the University of Glasgow.
“This programme is one of a number of smoking cessation services offered by NHSGGC where our quit rates are 22% which is the best in the country if not one of the best internationally.”
The Quit Your Way Prison team were congratulated by the Board for the successful implementation of the national policy.
Click here to read the paper.
Moving Forward Together update
Dr Jennifer Armstrong, Medical Director, provided the Board with an update on progress with the Board’s future vision, Moving Forward Together.
A number of high impact actions are being taken forward as a priority. These are:
- the development of local care hubs making use of existing and planned community facilities;
- the creation of a comprehensive framework for long term conditions;
- establishing the Out of Hours Resource Hub model; and
- public messaging in targeted areas to encourage appropriate use of services and self-care.
The Board was also briefed on the work underway within NHSGGC to implement Best Start, the national strategy for maternity and neonatal care. The Clyde sector is one of the early implementers of the new continuity of care model for women (antenatal, intrapartum and postnatal). In addition, NHSSGGC and NHS Ayrshire and Arran are early implementers of a new model of neonatal care. The learning from these early adopters will help inform the full implementation of the strategy across Scotland.
The Board noted that staff and public engagement on the Moving Forward Together programme have also continued and there remains strong interest from staff in working with the workstreams to develop and implement the strategy.
Click here to read the paper.
Integrated performance report
The regular performance report showed that the Board is making steady progress in meeting its key performance indicators, with improvements in a number of areas.
Areas highlighted included:
- 82.8% of mums booked in for antenatal care within 12 weeks (against a national target of 80%)
- Ahead of trajectory for total number of new outpatients waiting more than 12 weeks
- Ahead of trajectory for total number of patients waiting more than 6 weeks for a scopes test
- 94.3% of all cancer patients diagnosed with cancer treated within 31 days from decision to treat (against a national target of 90%)
- 100% of eligible patients screened for IVF screened within one year of receipt of referral (target 90%)
- 83.2% of eligible CAMHS patients started in less than 18 weeks of referral.
The Board noted these areas of positive performance and also considered the areas where challenge remained to meet targets including the 62 day target for patients referred urgently with suspicion of cancer to begin treatment (76.6% against target of 80%) and the latest Emergency Department performance (87.7% admitted, discharged or transferred within four hours against target of 90%).
Click here to read the paper.